Published: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 12:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 12:23 a.m.

LAKELAND | Rob DiNicolantonio of Lakeland said high-speed powerboat racers will get wet this weekend in the Orange Cup Regatta on Lake Hollingsworth, not by choice but when their boats blow over backward.

"You will see people flip their boats. It's inevitable. It's just part of the sport," DiNicolantonio said.

"It's not if, it's when you're going to crash," he said.

DiNicolantonio, 48, knows better than most what it takes to have the fastest boat, owning national and world titles as well as two Orange Cup trophies in Formula 2 tunnel-hull boats that reach 120 mph.

"If you're not driving by the seat of your pants, right on the edge, you're not going to win," DiNicolantonio said.

The Orange Cup Regatta is celebrating its 75th anniversary Friday through Sunday on Lake Hollingsworth, known as the "Lake of Records."

"There have probably been more records broken on this race course than any other venue in the world," said race director Gene Engle of Lakeland.

The Orange Cup is the second-oldest major sporting event in Lakeland behind spring training for the Detroit Tigers, who are in their 77th season here.

Each class champion will receive a special medal commemorating the 75th running of the Orange Cup Regatta, and there will be 75th anniversary decals on all boats, said John Oney of Polk County Tourism & Sports Marketing.

The Orange Cup is the nation's second-oldest powerboat race next to the APBA Gold Cup on the Detroit River, which started in 1904 and claims to be the oldest active trophy in motorsports.

Engle's late father, Walter Engle of Lakeland, started the Orange Cup Regatta in 1933. Gene Engle, 73, doesn't know how the race got its name, but it likely had something to do with Lake Hollingsworth ­being surrounded by orange groves at the time, and the Orange Cup being part of the Grapefruit Circuit that also competed on Lake Maggiore in St. Petersburg and Lake Eustis near Leesburg.

"It's been named that ever since the beginning. Dad and the committee named it," said Engle, whose family lived on the southwest shore of the lake.

In recent times, the Orange Cup has been the only race in Florida. Another race started in Stuart two years ago.

Walter Engle was one of just a handful of race chairmen, followed by Dub Palmore and then Bill and Katie Billiter before Gene assumed the duty as president of the Central Florida Racing Club.

There will be a special award for junior drivers this weekend in memory of Katie Billiter.

There have been five years when the Orange Cup was canceled, and high winds have interfered with racing at times.

"(My dad) had to cancel it two years during World War II," Engle said. "And then I had to cancel it two years when they were dredging it and took all the water out of the lake. I had to cancel it one other year (2010) because of financial reasons."

The high-pitched whine of revved-up tunnel boats and hydroplanes will reverberate from lakeshore viewing areas into neighborhoods surrounding Lake Hollingsworth, and the smell of racing fuel will waft through the air from the pits near the Lakeland Yacht & Country Club.

Drivers in 15 classes, representing 25 states, will compete for world records and points in the season-opening race for the American Power Boat Association.

And while speed is the game, Engle said safety issues are the No. 1 criteria. There are four divers on the course at all times, and most drivers are protected by capsules with oxygen on board in case the boat flips.

"We're basically strapped in like a NASCAR driver," DiNicolantonio said, with a helmet, a HANS (head and neck support) device and a fighter jet mask with air that kicks on while a boat is upside-down.

"There's only been one fatality in the 75 years, and that was strictly a very freak accident," Gene Engle said.

That accident occurred in 2002 in the tunnel boat class when Joey Richardson's boat spun 180 degrees and the sponson (a projecting stabilizer) of an oncoming driver went through the windshield. Richardson, of Jesup, Ga., died from blunt force trauma.

"(The boat's) left sponson dug in and flipped him around," Engle said. "He never knew what hit him."

DiNicolantonio, who competes from the East Coast to Texas to Seattle, said tunnel-boat racing as a whole is extremely dangerous.

"We've had two guys paralyzed from the waist down the past two years in accidents," he said.

Safety was just as critical in the 1930s, Engle said. Boats were running on the edge over a 1 2/3-mile course on Hollingsworth.

"Years ago, when my dad originally set the course out, it was an octagon with buoys," Engle said. "The course got too fast. The drivers were getting afraid of it.

"We've gone to a 1-mile course that is an oval, which makes it safer," he said. "It also makes a more exciting race, because the boats get tighter."

The Orange Cup Regatta, sanctioned by the APBA and the Central Florida Racing Club in partnership with the city of Lakeland and Polk County Tourism & Sports Marketing, draws racing fans from around the nation.

There's no cost to watch from vantage points around the shore of the lake.

"The spectators have varied from 2,000 to as much as 10,000," Engle said. "It brings quite a bit of money into town. And we get name recognition all year."

DiNicolantonio, who owns a business at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport that builds aircraft interiors, said races are more about "friendly competition" than money. He said Orange Cup class champions "might get $100."

"Nobody at the Orange Cup races full-time," said DiNicolantonio, who estimated he has between $80,000 and $100,000 invested in his F2 boat powered by a 230-HP Mercury OptiMax outboard modified for racing. "It doesn't pay. It's a for-fun sport."

The F2s run a rectangular layout, which isn't a record course, reaching 120 mph down the straightaways and doing 100 mph through the corners.

"You pull about 4Gs in a corner," DiNicolantonio said. "You'd better be in shape."

DiNicolantonio and Terry Rinker of Tampa are favorites in the F2 Class.

But DiNicolantonio said the fastest boats are 5-Liter Hydros, which reach speeds up to 160 mph. Junior class boats are the slowest at about 50 mph.

"When you see those rooster-tails going out there, it gets pretty exciting," Engle said.

Testing is at noon on Friday. Competition starts at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday.

Parking is available at the Beerman Family Tennis Center on Edgewood Drive, Common Ground Park on Buckingham Avenue, and at Florida Southern.

[ Del Milligan can be reached at del.milligan@theledger.com or at 863-802-7555. ]

<p>LAKELAND | Rob DiNicolantonio of Lakeland said high-speed powerboat racers will get wet this weekend in the Orange Cup Regatta on Lake Hollingsworth, not by choice but when their boats blow over backward.</p><p>"You will see people flip their boats. It's inevitable. It's just part of the sport," DiNicolantonio said.</p><p>"It's not if, it's when you're going to crash," he said.</p><p>DiNicolantonio, 48, knows better than most what it takes to have the fastest boat, owning national and world titles as well as two Orange Cup trophies in Formula 2 tunnel-hull boats that reach 120 mph.</p><p>"If you're not driving by the seat of your pants, right on the edge, you're not going to win," DiNicolantonio said. </p><p>The Orange Cup Regatta is celebrating its 75th anniversary Friday through Sunday on Lake Hollingsworth, known as the "Lake of Records."</p><p>"There have probably been more records broken on this race course than any other venue in the world," said race director Gene Engle of Lakeland.</p><p>The Orange Cup is the second-oldest major sporting event in Lakeland behind spring training for the Detroit Tigers, who are in their 77th season here.</p><p>Each class champion will receive a special medal commemorating the 75th running of the Orange Cup Regatta, and there will be 75th anniversary decals on all boats, said John Oney of Polk County Tourism & Sports Marketing.</p><p>The Orange Cup is the nation's second-oldest powerboat race next to the APBA Gold Cup on the Detroit River, which started in 1904 and claims to be the oldest active trophy in motorsports.</p><p>Engle's late father, Walter Engle of Lakeland, started the Orange Cup Regatta in 1933. Gene Engle, 73, doesn't know how the race got its name, but it likely had something to do with Lake Hollingsworth ­being surrounded by orange groves at the time, and the Orange Cup being part of the Grapefruit Circuit that also competed on Lake Maggiore in St. Petersburg and Lake Eustis near Leesburg.</p><p>"It's been named that ever since the beginning. Dad and the committee named it," said Engle, whose family lived on the southwest shore of the lake. </p><p>In recent times, the Orange Cup has been the only race in Florida. Another race started in Stuart two years ago.</p><p>Walter Engle was one of just a handful of race chairmen, followed by Dub Palmore and then Bill and Katie Billiter before Gene assumed the duty as president of the Central Florida Racing Club. </p><p>There will be a special award for junior drivers this weekend in memory of Katie Billiter.</p><p>There have been five years when the Orange Cup was canceled, and high winds have interfered with racing at times.</p><p>"(My dad) had to cancel it two years during World War II," Engle said. "And then I had to cancel it two years when they were dredging it and took all the water out of the lake. I had to cancel it one other year (2010) because of financial reasons."</p><p>The high-pitched whine of revved-up tunnel boats and hydroplanes will reverberate from lakeshore viewing areas into neighborhoods surrounding Lake Hollingsworth, and the smell of racing fuel will waft through the air from the pits near the Lakeland Yacht & Country Club.</p><p>Drivers in 15 classes, representing 25 states, will compete for world records and points in the season-opening race for the American Power Boat Association.</p><p>And while speed is the game, Engle said safety issues are the No. 1 criteria. There are four divers on the course at all times, and most drivers are protected by capsules with oxygen on board in case the boat flips.</p><p>"We're basically strapped in like a NASCAR driver," DiNicolantonio said, with a helmet, a HANS (head and neck support) device and a fighter jet mask with air that kicks on while a boat is upside-down.</p><p>"There's only been one fatality in the 75 years, and that was strictly a very freak accident," Gene Engle said. </p><p>That accident occurred in 2002 in the tunnel boat class when Joey Richardson's boat spun 180 degrees and the sponson (a projecting stabilizer) of an oncoming driver went through the windshield. Richardson, of Jesup, Ga., died from blunt force trauma.</p><p>"(The boat's) left sponson dug in and flipped him around," Engle said. "He never knew what hit him."</p><p>DiNicolantonio, who competes from the East Coast to Texas to Seattle, said tunnel-boat racing as a whole is extremely dangerous.</p><p>"We've had two guys paralyzed from the waist down the past two years in accidents," he said.</p><p>Safety was just as critical in the 1930s, Engle said. Boats were running on the edge over a 1 2/3-mile course on Hollingsworth.</p><p>"Years ago, when my dad originally set the course out, it was an octagon with buoys," Engle said. "The course got too fast. The drivers were getting afraid of it.</p><p>"We've gone to a 1-mile course that is an oval, which makes it safer," he said. "It also makes a more exciting race, because the boats get tighter."</p><p>The Orange Cup Regatta, sanctioned by the APBA and the Central Florida Racing Club in partnership with the city of Lakeland and Polk County Tourism & Sports Marketing, draws racing fans from around the nation. </p><p>There's no cost to watch from vantage points around the shore of the lake.</p><p>"The spectators have varied from 2,000 to as much as 10,000," Engle said. "It brings quite a bit of money into town. And we get name recognition all year."</p><p>The Orange Cup Regatta brings an estimated $750,000 economic impact to Polk County, Oney said.</p><p>DiNicolantonio, who owns a business at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport that builds aircraft interiors, said races are more about "friendly competition" than money. He said Orange Cup class champions "might get $100."</p><p>"Nobody at the Orange Cup races full-time," said DiNicolantonio, who estimated he has between $80,000 and $100,000 invested in his F2 boat powered by a 230-HP Mercury OptiMax outboard modified for racing. "It doesn't pay. It's a for-fun sport."</p><p>The F2s run a rectangular layout, which isn't a record course, reaching 120 mph down the straightaways and doing 100 mph through the corners.</p><p>"You pull about 4Gs in a corner," DiNicolantonio said. "You'd better be in shape."</p><p>DiNicolantonio and Terry Rinker of Tampa are favorites in the F2 Class.</p><p>But DiNicolantonio said the fastest boats are 5-Liter Hydros, which reach speeds up to 160 mph. Junior class boats are the slowest at about 50 mph. </p><p>"When you see those rooster-tails going out there, it gets pretty exciting," Engle said.</p><p>Testing is at noon on Friday. Competition starts at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday.</p><p>Parking is available at the Beerman Family Tennis Center on Edgewood Drive, Common Ground Park on Buckingham Avenue, and at Florida Southern.</p><p>[ Del Milligan can be reached at del.milligan@theledger.com or at 863-802-7555. ]</p>